Question Period Note - Access to French Language Education for Non-Rights Holders in the Northwest Territories

Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Issue

Access to French Language Education for Non-Rights Holders in the Northwest Territories

New

October 31, 2022

Source

Écoles francophones: la Cour suprême du Canada entendra la cause de non-ayants droit

Synopsis

A case between the immigrant parents of six children and the Commission scolaire francophone des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (CSFTNO) and the Government of the Northwest Territories regarding access to French-language education for the children of non-entitled immigrant parents will be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Recommended response

• We have taken note of the judgment of the Superior Court of the Northwest Territories, and we are following this file with interest.
• We are committed to promoting our two official languages and enhancing the vitality of official language minority communities across the country.
• The Government of Canada is proud to collaborate with the provinces and territories to support minority-language education and second-language instruction, while respecting areas of jurisdiction.

Background

• A case between immigrant parents of six children and the Commission scolaire francophone des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (CSFTNO) and the Government of the Northwest Territories regarding access to education in French for the children of immigrant parents, non-rights holders within the meaning of section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, will be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.
• A dispute between parents, the CSFTNO and the Government of the Northwest Territories began when the Minister of Education rejected the application of six non-entitled children to attend French-language schools, one in 2018 and five in 2019.
  • On two occasions, a territorial Supreme Court judge ruled in favour of the families of the children in question. The territorial government challenged both of these rulings in the Northwest Territories Court of Appeal where the judges confirmed that the Minister's decisions were reasonable.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear the case on the admission of non-rights holders to Francophone schools in the NWT. A date has not yet been fixed for the trial.
• A Notice of Constitutional Question served on the Attorney General of Canada was filed with the Supreme Court of Canada in May 2022, on this matter. In fact, while the main issue concerned the rights guaranteed by section 23 of the Charter, namely the rights to education in the minority language, the grounds for appeal are whether the right to use French in the courts of the Northwest Territories includes the right to be heard by judges who speak and understand French without the aid of an interpreter.
• On August 31, 2020 the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment of the Northwest Territories announced regulatory changes to admission into Francophone schools. These new regulations were developed in consultation with partners such as the CSFTNO, and took effect immediately for the 2020-2021 school year.
• The new regulations bring greater clarity to the eligibility criteria for admission to a Francophone school and a streamlined administrative process. The CSFTNO will evaluate admission requests to French schools. A new “Francophile” admission category will allow the enrolment of non-rights-holder students whose parent(s) can demonstrate the ability to speak French through an exam. There will be a 10% cap on the admission of students from this category. The “new arrival” stream remains unchanged, and continues to impose a 10% cap on the admission into Francophone schools of children of immigrant parents whose first language is not French. According to the CSFTNO, these families account for the majority of admission requests in the last two years in Yellowknife. A further cap will prohibit all admissions from special categories if a school reaches the threshold of 85% of its capacity.
• Despite these developments, the constitutional clarification sought on appeal should decide whether the courts of the NWT are courts established by the Parliament of Canada within the meaning of s. 19(1) of the Charter and, if that same subsection guarantees the right of parties before courts established by Parliament to be heard by judges who speak and understand the official language(s) of the parties, French or English or both, without the aid of an interpreter.
  • During the proceedings, it was revealed that the Court of Appeal does not have three bilingual judges, which entails the need for all documents (including evidence and briefs) to be translated, and engage an interpreter at the hearing, but also a time limit for the case to be heard.
  • On May 31, 2021, a virtual hearing took place in the Court of Appeal. Counsel for the Minister argued in English and counsel for the plaintiffs argued in French. The French-to-English interpretation service was clearly of insufficient quality to enable the plaintiffs’ counsel’s arguments to be understood.